Why should I care about the FLGS?

[Kichwas]

Why should I care about the FLGS? Really, why?

In the 'Eberron rocks' thread there was this off topic note:

Originally Posted by Basin?
... I was planning on ordering the book online for cheap, but...

please think about your local game store beofre you rush online for your gamng stuff. Is saving a few bucks really a fair trade for losing your local?

I would say yes.

I could say that I'm not a socialist, so sure, let em die... welcome to capitalism - it isn't just about letting the publisher charge your pants off, it's also about undercutting their price whenever you can.

But to look at it another way, why doesn't my local shop go online and compete with the same prices?

A lot of online vendors are themselves small businesses - so the anti-corporate types among us can feel justified there. Many of them sar so small that when you call customer service you can hear the kids watching TV while the person on the phone changes the baby's diaper while taking down your info.

I've been there on that one.

Amazon might be an exception, but it has the Z-Shops which are small businesses who sell the same product as it sells at even better prices.

Small businesses... that still manage to stay in profit and undercut even amazon.

eBay is a giant monolith, but it's one made up of little tiny ants... about as small direct business as you can get.

Again, small businesses that can give me the price I want and stay in profit doing it. On eBay, everything sells for -EXACTLY- what it is worth, at that very moment. No more and no less.

What do I need the local shop for?

A place to game? No, a house provide better privacy.

A chance to learn about gaming? No, the internet gives me that, and no matter how rude the flames I might get - it'll still not only be more polite but look and smell better as well.

A chance to meet fellow gamers? The people who hang out in game stores scare me... They should scare you too, and if they don't, then you scare me.

Sure it's nice to walk in and look at the product, to impulse buy from time to time. It's nice to go in and get a copy of say, Eberron, and not worry about a printing error... But this is after all capitalism we're dealing with, and if the local shop wants to stay, it had better get competitive. Some of those online little guys have no store front, but some of them do.

Now if you're going online and buying it from Walmart then I'm all with those you say you're doing the wrong thing, but not because of the local store issue - I have other reasons for that that would probably violate the rules of this forum against talking about real life...



But if you go online, and you buy it from somebody who's actually got meat attached to their name, or somebody who supports people who do - then I see nothing wrong with you, and I see nothing wrong with your desire to find the best price and, frankly, the superior customer service an online vendor will give (there's a reason for the 'F' in 'FLGS' and it ain't friendly...).

 

[Sejs]

Have you ever needed anything from the local gaming store? A set of dice? Hexmap? Any of the thousand other little incidentals that drive our hobby?


Have you ever needed them on the fly? Books been destroyed, or want to pick up some supliment when it comes out? How about being able to peruse product that you wouldn't have otherwise considdered but in turn proves to enhance your game? Ever found something you really wanted badly in the past on sale or in a discount rack?


Waiting weeks for delivery can suck, badly. And there's a pretty big difference between not need something much, and not needing it at all, ever. You really don't miss something until it's not there.

 

[Sejs]

Why should I care about the FLGS? Really, why?

Why should you care about anyone or anything?

I mean if their existance doesn't directly, immediatly benefit you, then to hell with them, right?

 

[Cassander]

Sometimes it's nice to be able to browse through a book before buying. If you only do this for books you're not sure about and buy the ones you are sure of online to save buck$, then soon enough you won't be able to browse for the cheap ones.

Plus they provide advise and a way for nongamers to get into things. And if you do like the services they provide (like a place to play), that is a plus too. But I see your points. I guess it depends how "friendly" your flgs is. Back in Athens mine was nice enough once to slip me a copy of the PHB 3.0 when it came out even though I didnt preorder early enough and cause I was gonna be leaving town and wouldnt be able to get it (I was obsessed with 3e at the time). Things like that and cause they were just nice in general made me loyal to them. Haven't found anything like that where I live now, so less loyalty. But the browsing option is certainly nice.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I do agree with you on most points (though I do use Walmart.com from time-to-time as their return policy is the best). Many online place people frequent are really Small business people behind the screen. So thanks for speaking your mind, we all should do the same.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Why should you care about anyone or anything?

I ponder this often...

It depends on what the "F" in FLGS stands for, sometimes its for Favorite, or sometimes its for Foul.

Money talks. If no game store offers the Favorite or Friendly type of F, then order online. And make sure to stop by and show them how much you DIDN'T spend at their store due to the "F"'ing hassle they gave you.

edit: fer pore langwag skilz

 

[Agamon]

Aside from the fact that my FLGS owner is a good friend, and that we use the store on Wednsdays to play Living Greyhwak (not sure where else 20+ roleplayers would go...), I am reminded of my patience, and the Good/Fast/Cheap rule:

You can have it good and cheap, but it won't be fast.
You can have it fast and cheap, but it won't be good.
You can have it good and fast, but it won't be cheap.

It might be cheaper to order online, but when I decide to buy a book, I want it now, not some time in the future, relying on, heaven-forbid, the postal system to get it to me. I sell stuff on eBay, but I almost never buy. Funny, that.

 

[Basin?]

Well, I'm the person who instigated the comment from Tsar to Owls, but I actually agree with him. I used to shop at the local FLGS which was a great place, but unfortunately had to close down. I drove all the way across town to shop there. There are several reasons.

As other posters have mentioned, its handy to have a FLGS around for many reasons, and paying a few bucks more for books in order to keep that store around is worth it, too bad more people in my area didn't feel that way.

Also, I like helping the local economy and the small business owners that keep my city from turning into Generic Corporate Shopping Complex #654,948.

Of course, that's just my personal feelings.

 

[ManicFuel]

I'm basically with arcady on this one. The point about "incidentals" is good, but the price difference between Amazon, for example, and my FLGS is pretty wide - $10 on the Complete series. That's a high premium to pay for a potential convience, in my view.

The best thing about FLGSs is being able to browse product - assuming yours doesn't shrink wrap every volume. Mine does this, so no browsing. In fact, Amazon provides a "Search Inside the Book" function that allows you to see selected, limited, or all pages of a volume (try Complete Warrior for an example of this). So I can browse the materials online now, where locally I cannot.

I know there's a need and desire for local hobby shops, it's just not my need or desire, and it is the responsibility of the stores themselves to adjust to a market space shared with online competitors.

 

[Basin?]

The point about shrink wrapping is good, I hate when places do this. Like I'm going to be able to memorize game rules? I still look up Sound Burst every time I use it.